Up to 700 people are claiming to be Prince's half-sibling

Los Angeles - Up to 700 people have come forward claiming to be Prince's half-sibling in a bid to secure a share of his lucrative estate.

As the Purple Rain singer left no will before his shock death last month, Harvey Morse, of Morse Genealogical Services, is currently trying to establish the legitimacy of the claims of each person who has come forward, with the late star's £200m estate set to be divided between his siblings.

He explained to MailOnline: "Our phone has been ringing off the hook, I would say we have received between 600 and 700 calls.

"They run the gamut, literally from 'We lived in the same area so we must be related', to 'We have pictures of Prince at our family reunion'."

However, Morse also admitted he preferred dealing with documented evidence, rather than with some of the questionable links that have been put forward by people claiming to be related to the chart-topping musician.

He said: "I like official documents. Birth, marriage, death, divorce certificates, census records, that sort of thing - papers that were drawn up without any thought of this eventuality."

Minnesota law states that all siblings, irrespective of whether they are full or half, are entitled to an equal share of Prince's estate.

Meanwhile, the report comes shortly after a court hearing was staged in connection to the long-term future of the estate.

It was attended by the singer's sister Tyka Nelson as well as his five known half-siblings Sharon, Norrie and John Nelson, Omar Baker and Alfred Jackson.

All of them are apparently keen to get their share of the award-winning singer's multi-million pound estate, which is also said to include a huge number of records that have not yet been released to the public and could be worth millions.